"We're starting to just compile…the process usually goes, we compile riffs, we compile some lyrics, you kind of start putting it together, we start thinking," he tells SpazioRock. "We've been talking on the bus at night about the process and the location and just kind of how we're gonna do the next album. So a lot of that. So it's nice that we're already thinking forward toward that. We're gonna wrap up the tour in November, and then our intention now is to go in and start working on the record after that."

The bassist also talked about his extended time away from the group and how he benefited from it, saying it allowed him to grow up and have fun as an adult in the band when he returned.

"There was a period where Megadeth broke up -- 2002," the bassist says. "And then in 2004, Dave [Mustaine] and I were talking about trying to get back together again and we just really kinda weren't on the same page and at some point I just kinda sort of unhooked and let Megadeth go and kinda in my heart go, 'This is gonna come back around again.'"

"That season when I was away from Megadeth allowed me to grow up and become a better man on my own two feet and allow Dave to have some experiences away," he continues. "When [Mustaine] and I met up again in 2010, we were two grown-ups. We weren't so kind of co-dependent on each other, we were more inter-dependent. We were two independent me who enjoyed the inter-dependency of the roles we both had in Megadeth. I think Megadeth is much better and much stronger as a result. I think he and I enjoy the journey a lot better together and we're like adult me having fun with something we started when I was a teenager! It's important to be able to grow up and mature and just appreciate it for what we have."

Asked if he has any regrets, Ellefson says he doesn't.

"Regrets is sort of hanging on to an expectation of how something was supposed to go, and being upset it didn't go the way you wanted it to go," he says. "I think there comes a point where you just accept it for what it is and go, "Well, that was kinda weird.' and you go, "What can I learn from that situation?'"

Currently, Megadeth are on tour in a rare support role for German metal legends Scorpions, while playing headlining dates on off-days. The full run of shows can be found here.

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